Since 2015, RTC’s Doppelt Fund has awarded nearly a half-million dollars in grants to nonprofits and government agencies working to develop and improve multiuse trails. This year, RTC is awarding the most annual funds yet to the most awardees, with more than $140,000 going to 10 worthy recipients.

As I reflect on my tenure and how our work has evolved since that day in 2001, I’m proud of RTC’s position at the forefront of the active transportation movement. We have grown significantly in the past two decades, seizing new opportunities to first build rail-trails and now to maximize those trails by connecting them with each other. Today, we have powerful initiatives underway designed to catalyze the development of trail networks nationwide.

The P2P corridor heads east out of the Ohio River port city of Parkersburg, along the North Bend Rail Trail, through small, rural communities like Cairo, West Union and Salem. Seventy-eight percent of the 150-mile West Virginia section is already complete, with a few key gaps in Wood, Harrison and Marion counties.

During the pleasant summer months of northern Vermont, the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail offers an extraordinary experience as it journeys through a verdant river valley tucked among the forested slopes of the Green Mountains.

On or about May 10, 2018, CSX Transportation Inc. filed for the abandonment of 13.9 miles of track in Trumbull County, Ohio. We are providing this information because it presents an opportunity to develop a real regional asset: a multi-use trail that can accommodate hikers, bikers, equestrians and other appropriate uses.

In Spring 2017, Ohio launched the Ohio Legislative Trails Caucus, a bipartisan group of state-elected officials committed to connecting Ohioans via a statewide trails network. RTC recently chatted with Sens. Wilson and O’Brien about their passion for walking and biking, their goals for the caucus and their vision to improve the quality of life for all citizens.

Opening Day for Trails celebration on the W&OD Trail | Photo by Joe LaCroix, courtesy RTC

This year, thousands of people from coast to coast went outside to celebrate the sixth annual Opening Day for Trails (Opening Day). Although the country was a mix of sunshine and snow, trail users came on foot, wheel, hoof, ski and everything in between to kick off the spring season on their local trails.
Thanks to everyone who joined us in showing their love for America’s magnificent trails by celebrating Opening Day. And a big thank you to our magnanimous sponsors at Performance Bicycle, Fuji Bikes, KEEN, Topo Designs and Patagonia for making the day extra special by providing some great prizes.

Active transportation is all about getting people where they need to go safely in a human-powered way—usually on foot or by bike. Yet we know from both research and everyday experience that many trips can be scary or stressful to make by walking or biking. Without proper infrastructure to make those trips safer, most people with a choice won’t leave their cars behind—resulting in less active and healthy lifestyles.

2017 Opening Day for Trails celebration on the Circuit Trails | Photo by Lauren Lenko

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced a new program, BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development), which replaces the wildly popular TIGER program and also seeks to pursue many of the principles in the White House infrastructure plan on a small scale. Here’s what these changes mean for trails and the future of walking and biking investment.

The D&L Trail that connects residents and visitors to this amazing story as well as the health, economic, environmental and cultural attributes along its path. The D&L Trail and organization are managed by a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that coordinates the collective efforts of public, private and volunteer stakeholders who celebrate and preserve the pathway.

The Parks, Environment and Water Bond, on this June's statewide ballot as Proposition 68, or “Prop. 68,” includes major funding opportunities for trails, biking and walking. We’re encouraging all California voters to get out and vote yes in June on this long overdue $4 billion investment in parks, trails and clean, safe water.

Morgantown's Caperton Trail, part of the Mon River Trail System | Photo by James Riel

The P2P: It’s a small acronym that holds a world of promise. Extending from Parkersburg to Pittsburgh (P2P), the developing 238.5-mile route connecting northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania by trail would be a gamechanger for the dozens of small, rural Appalachian towns that have seen the Cinderella story of the highly successful Great Allegheny Passage so close at hand.